Tracheal intubation places a flexible plastic tube into the trachea to maintain an open airway or to administer drugs. Many times this is performed on injured, ill, or anesthetized patients to allow ventilation of the lungs or to prevent asphyxiation or airway obstruction.
Tracheal intubation is an invasive and potentially uncomfortable procedure for the patient. A tracheal intubation also can be challenging for medical personnel to perform. An unusual airway anatomy, patient obesity, presence of fluids in the trachea, swelling, tumors, an uncooperative patient, or injuries to the neck, mouth, or throat can all compound the difficulty of the procedure. Tracheal intubations can be even more complicated on children or infants due to differences in anatomy or size of the mouth or trachea.
Tracheal intubation can lead to complications such as, for example, broken teeth, lacerations of the mouth or upper airway, or damage to the vocal cords. It also can lead to potentially fatal complications such as pulmonary aspiration of stomach contents, which can result in a severe or fatal chemical aspiration pneumonitis, or unrecognized intubation of the esophagus, which can lead to potentially fatal anoxia. Other injuries or conditions, some of which can be life-threatening, also can result from tracheal intubation. In a worst case scenario, failure to properly deliver oxygen to the lungs through tracheal intubation can lead to brain damage or death.
Having medical personnel practice tracheal intubation may effectively reduce or eliminate the associated risks. However, it is difficult to practice tracheal intubation on a real patient without exposing this patient to the associated risks. Simulators lack the ability to simulate different environments or scenarios and may not effectively train medical personnel. Simulators also lack the ability to effectively evaluate performance of the user. Due to the complicated nature of tracheal intubation and the potential injuries that can be caused to a patient, an improved haptic simulator for intubation is needed.